December 27, 2004

Parents of autistic children are deeply committed to behavioral therapies, although their effectiveness has not been proven; scientists do not know why one child thrives in treatment while another, equally affected, does not; researchers say traditional studies are difficult to carry out; say therapies are extremely time-consuming, and many parents refuse to let their children be part of control groups that offer less-than-optimal therapy but are essential for scientific research; note that most parents now experiment with so many alternative treatments--vitamins, diets, sensory therapies and computer games--that they muddy results of behavior treatment, making it hard to say what is causing child to gain skills or to decline; descriptions of various behavioral treatment programs; some frustrated parents put their autistic children on psychiatric medications, drugs that can settle some of symptoms associated with autism, like aggression, but that can play havoc with some children's moods; photo (L)

For 59 minutes of football, he had flapped his arms, pulled at his chin strap and screamed at his sideline, but in the moment when the record and the game were finally in his sights, Peyton Manning became the calmest person in the house. Standing on the San Diego Chargers' 21-yard line with one minute remaining, down by 8 points and deadlocked with Dan Marino for the most touchdown passes in a season, Manning disregarded the play that was being shouted in his headset. He blocked out the 57,330 fans at the RCA Dome who stood in anticipation. He ignored his parents, Archie and Olivia, who had arrived with eight minutes left.

From his office on the 47th floor, above the streets of Midtown Manhattan, Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, presides over a sport that is threatening to become the first to lose an entire season because of a labor stalemate. Arenas left dark for just over 100 days and the cancellation of nearly 500 games were not part of the business plan that Bettman envisioned when he was named commissioner 12 years ago.

Rough Days for Travelers, Possibly Glimpse at Future A horrible weekend might finally be over for thousands of air travelers, but the worst may still be to come for the industry. The combination of a winter storm, labor unrest and computer glitches, which snarled airports from Philadelphia to Atlanta, may only be a prologue to what could be the most difficult year yet for an industry that since 2000 has lost $30 billion and eliminated over 100,000 jobs.

Two 13-year-old boys are charged as juveniles with felony murder after setting fire to garbage on cart in hallway of troubled Ocean Village apartments in Rockaway section of Queens; Raymond James, security guard, is killed when he pulls smoldering bag onto elevator and bag bursts into flames; photo (M)

Article on Pac-Mondrian, art-based cybernet game built by Prize Budget for Boys, Toronto art group, for contest sponsored by Web site rhizome.org; game, built around Mondrian's painting Broadway Boogie Woogie and Pac Man, is being played by thousands on two prominent Web sites--metafilter.com and boing-boing.net, and others; drawings; chart (M)

Article, in light of 25th anniversary of literary quarterly Threepenny Review, on crowded field of 1,000 literary magazines, most of which are geared toward specific audiences; photo (M)

Bush administration's plan to rewrite tax code by eliminating federal deduction for state and local taxes worries New York and other states that levy high taxes; change would include property taxes; change would affect about 3.2 million of New York's households, about 38 percent, three-quarters of whom are middle- and low-income homes; New York City residents would be especially hard hit because they also pay city income taxes; tax experts say change would be offset by tax cuts in areas like savings and investment and would allow adjustment of alternative minimum tax; it would cost nation about $400 billion over 10 years (M)

Kodak has regained market share in digital cameras with focus on low-priced, easy-to-use cameras that appeal to women; says its digital camera division will have full-year profit for first time in 2004; buyers have not yet pressed for lower prices, instead looking for more features at same price; photos (M)

Interview with Ray Kurzweil, co-author of book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever, on his view that emerging trends in medicine, biotechnology and nanotechnology open realistic path to immortality; photos (M)

No one paid much heed last year when the Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn stopped showing his work in Switzerland to protest a right-wing populist's entry into the government. Now, in a new exhibition in Paris, a biting critique of Swiss democracy, Mr. Hirschhorn has provoked stormy scenes in the Swiss Parliament that have turned him into his country's most talked about artist overnight. Mr. Hirschhorn, who has made his home here since the 1980's, is renowned on the international art scene for his bizarre, politically inspired installations. But conservatives are infuriated that his new show, ''Swiss-Swiss Democracy,'' uses the Swiss Cultural Center in Paris to ridicule democracy in Switzerland and to attack the ultranationalist politician Christoph Blocher, the target of Mr. Hirschhorn's protest last year, who is now minister for justice and police.

The Seahawks made the playoffs and the Bills kept alive their improbable quest to join them. Seattle (8-7) qualified with a 24-21 victory over Arizona. Buffalo (9-6) rolled to its sixth victory in a row, 41-7 over San Francisco. Panthers and Saints helped their chances. COVERAGE, PAGES D3-D8